Study on the detailed and homogenized models for functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beams

Abstract

In this paper, the numerical results of a series of finite element method (FEM) analyses for detailed and homogenized models of functionally graded (FG) carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (CNTRC) beams are presented. There are three types of CNTRC beams: the UD (uniformly distributed) model in which fillers are uniformly distributed, and the FG-V and FG-X models in which fillers are distributed with a gradient in the z- direction. For each model, three boundary conditions, which are clamped-free (CF), simply supported (SS), and clamped-clamped (CC), are analyzed. The effective material properties of the homogenized model were calculated as a function of the z direction using the rule of mixture. For finite element analyses, a commercial program, ANSYS, was used, and the maximum deflection of the mid-surface and the von Mises stress distributions are compared. From the results, CNTRC analysis for detailed and homogenized FGM models are dominantly affected by the boundary conditions as well as the gradient pattern of fillers.